Flexible transporting containers

ABSTRACT

A container in the form of a tube-like bag open at the top and bottom and having a bottom section that can be folded over the lower end of the bag and up the side of the latter. Securing means releasably connects the folded-over bottom section to the side of the bag. The container can be rolled or folded up for storage and shipment, and it can be opened into tubular form and filled with particulate material through the upper end thereof. Release of the securing means when the bag is lifted up or suspended allows the bottom section to straighten out and the material to discharge from the container.

United States Patent [19] Gregory et al.

[ FLEXIBLE TRANSPORTING CONTAINERS [75] Inventors: Gerald H. Gregory,Surrey, British Columbia; Donald W. Benedict, Beach Grove, BritishColumbia, both of Canada [73] Assignee: False Creek Industries Ltd.,

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada [22] Filed: Sept. 18, 1972 [2]]Appl. No.: 290,108

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [11] 3,827,471 Aug.6, 1974Primary Examiner-Herbert F. Ross A tzorney, Agent, or Firm-Fetherstonhaugh & Co.; Kellard A. Carter 5 7] ABSTRACT A containerin the form of a tube-like bag open at the top and bottom and having abottom section that can be folded over the lower end of the bag and upthe side of the latter. Securing means releasably connects thefolded-over bottom section to the side of the bag. The container can berolled or folded up for storage and shipment, and it can be opened intotubular form and filled with particulate material through the upper endthereof. Release of the securing means when the bag is lifted up orsuspended allows the bottom section to straighten out and the materialto discharge from the container.

8 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures FLEXIBLE TRANSPORTING CONTAINERS Thisinvention relates to flexible containers for transporting material inparticulate form, and particularly materials such as ore concentrates,cement, fertilizer, bentonite, iron pellets, and other materials thatare shipped in bulk form.

This transporting container is particularly designed for heavyparticulate material, for example, ore concentrates, and for the sake ofconvenience will be described herein relative to ore concentrates.However, it is to be understood that the transporting containers can beused for any particulate, granular, or bulk transportable material.

At the present time, a great amount of ore concentrate is transported bytruck, rail, vessel and aircraft around the world. The methods by whichthese materials are handled and shipped have not changed substantiallyover the years despite the many known disadvantages of these methods.

Ore concentrates are shipped from the mine to the smelter. The ore maybe transported directly to the smelter by one conveyance, but more oftenthere are numerous changes of conveying vehicles. For example, the oreis often transported by truck to a rail head, by rail either to thesmelter or to a tide water port from which it is transported to anoverseas smelter. There are numerous problems involved in handling theheavy ore concentrates, abd losses due to spillage and dusting aregreat.

For example, a concentrate, such as copper concentrate, when transportedfrom the mine to the smelter, rail head or port must be transported inspecially constructed semi-trailer trucks. This is due to the fact thatthe concentrate is a very heavy material, and in order to achieveacceptable axle loadings, special trucks are used and the bodies thereofare usually constructed of aluminum in order to reduce the overallweight. A serious drawback with such vehicles is that they cannot beused to transport many materials which must be hauled back to the mineand, therefore, additional trucks must be used to transport millequipment and supplies. As these second transports are not acceptablefor the transport of concentrates, many of the trucks used carrypayloads in one direction only.

When the trucked ore concentrate reaches its destination, it is dumpedfrom the semi-trailer into a suitable receiver. This dumping processresults in some additional loss. When the material is transported in agondola or open rail car, there are additional losses. Losses in thetotal transportation systems have been reported as high as 1.5 percent.As the value of copper concentrate is something of the order of $250.00per ton, the losses which occur between the mine head and the smeltercan be serious. Furthermore, materials such as copper concentrate mustbe kept dry. When copper concentrate is rained upon the material canvery quickly approach a slurry state which can leak out of the truck orrailroad car, thereby increasing losses. More important, however, itbecomes an extremely difficult material to handle. Concentrate withexcessive moisture content should not be loaded in a cargo vesselbecause of its thixotropic characteristics which make it dangerous inthe vessel hold.

There are numerous prior shipping containers in existence, but these arenot completely satisfactory for use with heavy particulate material suchas ore concentrates. Some of the difficulties are cost of the containersthemselves, problems in rapid loading and unloading, strength of thecontainers and their ability to stand up under the prevailingconditions, and the problem and cost of returning empty containers tothe source of the material to be transported.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate or greatly reducethe numerous problems set out above. A transporting container inaccordance with this invention comprises a tube-like bag having aperipheral wall forming a main holding section, a tubelike bottomsection aligned with and connected to a lower end of the bag wall, saidbottom section being foldable over and across the adjacent end of theholding section and upwardly along the outer surface of the peripheralwall to close the end of the holding section, and releasable securingmeans co-acting between the bottom section and the adjacent peripheralwall of the holding section releasably to secure said bottom section andsaid wall together, whereby when there is particulate material in theholding section of the bag, the weight of said material pressing againstthe folded-over bottom section helps to seal the lower end of the bagand yet release of said securing means results in the bottom sectionstraightening out and instant discharge of the particulate material whenthe bag is supported near the top thereof.

Although this container is in the form of a bag, it can be placed on asupporting surface, such as a pallet, the bed of a truck or rail car, adock or a deck of a vessel, and it will remain upright. The particulatematerial within the container bag tends to shift downwardly andoutwardly when the container is deposited on a surface so that it shapesthe flexible bag into a relatively large substantially flat bottom. Theweight of the particulate material tends to seal the lower end of thebag against any possible leakage, and also keeps undue strain off thesecuring means which is up the side of the bag.

The transporting container is usually loaded when it is supported at thetop of the bag which is held open while the particulate material ispoured into the bag. As the pouring continues, the bag swells out to itsfullest extent while the weight of the material presses against thefolded-over bottom section of the bag. The foldedover arrangement of thebottom section is such that much of the strain against the bottomsection is taken by the peripheral wall of the bag. In order to unloadthe container, it is only necessary to release the securing means and,if necessary, to start the folded-over portion of the bottom section toswing downwardly, at which time the weight of the material in the bagtends to open up the folded bottom section so that the particulatematerial will flow freely through the open end of the bag. The securingmeans can be released while the bag is suspended in the air, or whilethe bag is resting on a support. In the latter case, the bag is raisedto cause the bottom section to straighten out under the weight of thematerial. This in effect is lifting the bag '01? the material whichstays on the support.

After the discharge of the particulate material, the bottom section canbe folded over and secured to the peripheral wall of the bag, and thethe container can be rolled or folded into a small bundle for returnshipment and storage.

A very substantial advantage of this invention is the fact that ordinaryvehicles can be used for transporting these containers, and thesevehicles can be used to transport supplies back to the mine so that theyare not running with a payload in one direction only.

The use of these flexible containers greatly reduces the lossesassociated with the normal transportation system, and this is asubstantial benefit to the industry and offsets the cost of thecontainers, and helps to reduce air pollution caused bydust at numerousintermediate loading and unloading points and during transit. Inaddition, these flexible containers enclose and protect the product,thereby eliminating the necessity for large warehouses for storagepurposes. At the present time, small lots of concentrates are notnormally shipped, and the material must be stocked piled in a warehouseprior to being loaded in bulk. The use of these flexible containersmakes it possible to load the particulate material as ordinary generalcargo or as a partial load and, therefore, the large warehouse is notrequired.

Preferred forms of the invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a transportingcontainer in fully open condition,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the bottom and top of thecontainer closed, this being for illustrative purposes,

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the empty container in partially collapsedcondition and with the bottom section folded over almost to its finallatched position,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the container as shown in FIG. 3,

FIGS. 5 and 6 successively illustrate two stages of the closing of thetop of the loaded container,

FIG. 6 being turned around relative to FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the loaded container resting on aflat surface,

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic isometric view of the loaded containersuspended from a crane or the like,

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing the bottom sectionunlatched and moving towards the open position,

FIG. 10 is another view of the suspended container after the contentsthereof have been discharged,

FIG. 11 is an isometric view of the upper end of a container having analternative cover or closure arrangement, and

FIG. 12 is an alternative way of supporting the container during loadingthereof.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 10 of the drawings, 10 is a transportingcontainer in accordance with this invention which consists mainly of atube-like flexible bag 11 which has an open top 12 and an open bottom13. Although bag 11 may have any desired cross-sectional shape, such ascircular or oval, it is preferably substantially rectangular incross-section when empty, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Bag 11 hasa peripheral wall 16 which is made up of opposed plain front and backpanels 17 and 18, and opposed inwardly foldable side panels 20 and 21.Container or bag 11 has a tubelike bottom section aligned with andconnected to the lower end of peripheral wall 16. Bottom section 25 isformed with front and back plain panels 27 and 28, and inwardly foldableside panels 30 and 31. It is preferable to make bag 11 and bottomsection 25 of a single piece of suitable flexible material so thatpanels 27, 28, 30 and 31 are integrally connected to panel 17, 18, 20and 21, respectively. Although not absolutely necessary, it usually isdesirable to provide container 10 with a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced flexible reinforcing strips 35 extending the length of peripheralwall 16 and extending into the bottom section 25, as shown. In thisexample, a reinforcing strip is provided at each corner of the bag, andanother strip is provided centrally of each of the front, back and sidepanels. Each strip 35 has a loop 37 formed at its upper end adjacent theupper end at 12 of bag 11.

Suitable cover means and fastening means are provided for the bag. Inthis example, the bag is formed with a tubular cover section 39 which isan extension of the bag itself. This cover section has front and backpanels 40 and 41, and side panels 42 and 43. Grommets 46 and 47 areformed in side panels 42 and 43 near the outer or free edges thereof.Stiffening strips 50 and 51 extend along and are secured to the freeedges of front and back panels 40 and 41. The illustrated container baghas a plurality of resilient straps 53 secured at one end thereof to theback panel 18 of the bag near the back cover panel 41, see FIG. 6, eachstrap having a hook 54 connected to its opposite end. A grommet 56, seeFIG. 5, is provided on front panel 17 for each hook 54.

Back panel 28 of bottom section 25 is produced downwardly beyond theother panels of the bottom sec tion to form a flap 60 which actuallyconstitutes part of the bottom part of the container. This flap has areinforcing piece 61 secured thereto near its free end, and a slot 62extends through this reinforcing piece and the adjacent portion of theflap.

Suitable securing is provided for container 10, and in this example thesecuring means is in the form of a latch 65. This latch consists of atrigger plate 67 swingably connected by a hinge 68 to a base plate 69which is secured to front panel 17 of the peripheral wall 16. It ispreferable to provide a reinforcing piece 70 at the point where baseplate 69 is secured to the wall panel. A loop 73 is secured to baseplate 69 and projects outwardly therefrom, and is positioned to extendthrough a slot 74 formed in trigger plate 67 near the outer end of thelatter when this plate is swung upwardly and inwardly towards theperipheral wall of the bag. A lanyard loop 77 is connected to andprojects outwardly from the free end of trigger plate 67, and a lanyard78 is secured at one end to this loop and at its opposite end to alocking pin 79.

When container 10 is not in use, it usually is collapsed so that it canbe folded or rolled up for storage or shipment. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustratebag 11 almost in the completely collapsed state. In order to collapsethe bag, side panels 20, 30 and 21, 31 are pressed or folded inwardlyand this draws the front and back panels towards each other so that theentire container can be laid flat with flap 60 projecting from one endthereof. Bottom section 25 can now be folded over roughly along the line83 in FIG. 1 and at 84 in FIG. 3 so that it lies over front panel 17 ofthe peripheral wall of the bag. At this time, trigger plate 67 is swungupwardly and inwardly to cause loop 73 to project through its slot 74.Flap 60 is moved towards the bag to cause loop 73 to project throughslot 74 of this flap. When pin 79 is inserted through a protrudingportion of loop 73, the bottom section is latched or secured into itsbag-closing position. The container may now be folded or rolled up intoa compact bundle for shipment or storage.

When it is desired to fill container 10, the top thereof is supportedand held open in any desired manner.

Cover section 39 is held open at this time, and the ore concentrate orother particulate material is directed into bag 11 through the open topthereof. This completely fills out the bag. As the bag fills, the front,back and side panels thereof move outwardly, but since the bottomsection 25 of the bag is folded over the lower end thereof and extendspart way up the outer surface of peripheral wall 16, the lower portionsof each of the side panels 20 and 21 fold downwardly roughly along thelines 94 and 95, see FIGS. 1 and 2, which are arranged approximately ina V relative to each other. When the bag is full, the bottom section isflattened as shown in FIG. 7. After side panels 42 and 43 of coversection 39 are folded inwardly, see FIG. 5, they are secured together inany suitable manner, such as by means of a hook 96 hooked into grommets46 and 47. Following this, stiffening strips 50 and 51 are broughttogether, FIG. 6, and then rolled towards the main portion of the bag,as shown in FIG. 2, at which time the cover section 39 rolls aroundthese strips until the roll is stopped by the material in the bag.Straps 53 are moved over the rolled cover section and hooks 54 areengaged in grommets 56 to retain the cover section in this rolledposition. The ore concentrate is now completely enclosed within thecontainer bag.

The filled bag can be lifted in any desired manner. For example, it canbe lifted by a plurality of cables 97 having hooks 98 on their lowerends which engage loops 37 at the upper end of the body of bag 11. Thesecan be connected to a common ring 99 which may be placed over the hookof a crane or the like.

When the loaded container is placed on a flat surface 100, asdiagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 7, the ore tends to spread thelower portionof the bag outwardly, as shown, so that a flat bottom 101is created upon which the load rests. The bag is now quite stable andcan be left in this position without any support at the top thereof. Atthe same time, the weight of the material is on the folded-over portionof bottom section 25 so that there is no possibility of any of thematerial getting out of the bag, and moisture cannot get into it. Itwill be noted that the free edge of bottom section 25 is positioned wellabove the supporting surface at this time so that even if the bag issitting in water, the latter cannot get into the bottom section. Thebottom of the bag is sealed by the weight of the material in it.

FIG. 8 diagrammatically illustrates loaded container as it appears whensuspended from a crane or the like. When it is desired to unload thecontainer, it is only necessary to withdraw pin 79 from loop 73. Thiscan be done, when the container is suspended, by means of a rope 102connected to pin 79. When the pin is withdrawn, there is a tendency forflap 60 and bottom section 25 to remain in the closed position. Afurther pull by means of rope 102 will swing trigger plate 67 outwardlyon its hinge 68 to shift flap 60 off loop 73. At this time, the contentsof the bag tend to slip down through tubular bottom section 25 and thisswings the bottom section and the flap downwardly until the materialfreely runs out of the bottom of the bag. FIG. 9 shows the bottomsection and the flap moved partly to the fully open position, while FIG.10 shows these in the fully open position and the bag emptied. The bagnow can be folded up as described above and shipped back for anotherload.

The material to be transported may be of a powdery nature, in which casethere is danger of pollution of the air and product loss if thiscontainer is loaded and unloaded as described above. An alternative formof container 10a, see FIG. 11, is provided for this purpose. Thecontainer bag 11 is provided with a cover section in the form of aflexible cover 106 in place of cover section 39, said cover 106 beingconnected to the peripheral wall 16 of the bag almost completely closingthe top of the bag. A flexible or collapsible tubular sleeve 108 issecured to cover 106 and opens into the bag. This sleeve is adapted tofit over a spout 110, which discharges the material to be transportedinto the bag. The sleeve may be large enough to fit loosely over thespout so as to permit air to discharge from the bag during the fillingoperation, or it can be clamped to the spout, in which case a flexiblevent tube 112 may be provided, and this tube can extend back to thehopper containing the material.

When the container bag is full, sleeve 108 and tube 112 may be rolled upin the same manner as cover section 39 of container 10 and secured inplace by straps and hooks similar to straps 53 and hooks 54 or by asuitable flap.

FIG. 12 illustrates a way of supporting a container 10b while it isbeing loaded through a spout 115. A plurality of cables 116 are hookedto some of the loops 37 and extend upwardly and over pulleys 117 to acommon counterbalance 118.

When the container bag is empty, it hangs with its folded-over bottomsection 25 spaced a little above a support 120. As material is pouredinto the bag, the latter first fills out as described above, and then asthe weight in the bag increases, the bag moves downwardly until it restson support 120. This allows the folds of the material of the bottom ofthe bag to shift into their proper positions before the weight of thematerial seals the bag bottom. In this way it is not necessary tosupport the total weight of the load during the loading operation.

It is obvious that container 10 can be supported during loading in themanner illustrated in FIG. 12.

When it is desired to unload the transporting container with a minimumof dust being discharged to the atmosphere, the latch is released whilethe bag is resting on a support such as illustrated in FIG. 7. Then thebag is raised by a crane through cables 98. As the bag moves upwardly,the bottom section thereof unfolds and allows the material to flow outof the bag on to the support, which may be the bottom of a bin. In allunloading operations there is relative movement between the material andthe bag, and in the last-described operation, the bag in effect movesrelative to the material, whereas when the container is completelysuspended at the movement of discharge, the material moves relative tothe bag.

Bag 10, 10a or 10b and the elements integrally connected thereto may beformed of any suitable strong and waterproof material. For example, upto 5 tons of ore concentrate have been successfully carried in a bagmade from polyvinyl chloride-coated woven polyester material weighing 26ozs. per square yard. Two-inch nylonbraided webbing having a breakingpoint of 6,000lbs. has been found suitable for reinforcing strips 35.Alternatively, these strips can be made of a material that can be weldedto the bag material rather than being sewn thereto. Although the bag mayhave any suitable dimensions, the bag used for up to 5 tons ofconcentrate was approximately 3 feet on each side and had a height ofabout 5.5 feet.

We claim:

1. A container for transporting particulate material comprising aflexible tubular bag of substantially rectangular cross section andhaving a peripheral wall forming a main holding section, a tube-likebottom section of substantially rectangular cross section and alignedwith and connected to a lower end of the bag wall, said peripheral walland said bottom section hav ing opposed side panels that fold inwardlywhen the bag is collapsed and having opposed plain other panels, saidside panels of the bottom section when the bag is collapsed beingfoldable inwardly relative to the adjacent end of the holding section,said plain panels of the bottom section being foldable inwardly oversaid infolded side panels and said end of the holding section to closethe end of the holding section and one of said plain panels extendingupwardly along the outer surface of the peripheral wall, and releasablesecuring means coacting between the bottom section and the adjacentperipheral wall of the holding section releasably to secure said bottomsection and said wall together, said securing means comprising a triggerplate having a slot therein and hingedly secured to a plain panel of theperipheral wall, a loop secured to said wall and positioned to extendthrough the plate slot when said plate is swung towards the peripheralwall, a slot formed in said upwardly extending plain panel andpositioned to fit over the loop when the bottom section is folded intotheclosing position with said upwardly extending plain panel overlyingthe trigger plate, and pin means engageable with the portion of the loopextending through the plate slot and the plain panel slot releasably toprevent the trigger plate and the upwardly extending plain panel frombeing swung away from the peripheral wall, and when the plate is swungaway from the peripheral wall after withdrawal of the pin means saidupwardly extending plain panel is moved off the loop to free the bottomsection, whereby when there is particulate material in the holdingsection of the bag, the weight of said material pressing against thefoldedover bottom section helps to seal the lower end of the bag and yetwhen said upwardly extending plain panel is moved off the loop thebottom section straightens out and the particulate wall is instantlydischarged when the bag is supported near the top thereof.

2. A container for transporting heavy particulate ma terial, comprisinga tube-like bag having a peripheral wall forming a main'holding section,a tube-like bottom section aligned with and connected to a lower end ofthe bag wall, said bottom section being foldable over and across theadjacent end of the holding section and upwardly along the outer surfaceof the peripheral wall to close the end of the holding section, saidfolded-over portion of the bottom section supporting the load of theheavy particulate material in the bag when the bag is suspended from thetop thereof and the load pressing against said folded over portionhelping to seal the lower end of the bag, securing means in the form ofinterconnectable and releasable securing members on the bottom sectionand the adjacent peripheral wall of the holding section respectively,said securing means comprising a slot formed in a portion of the bottomsection which extends over the outer surface of the peripheral wall ofthe bag when the bottom section is folded over into the closingposition, a loop secured to the peripheral wall and positioned to extendthrough said slot when the bottom section is folded over, a triggerplate having a slot therein and hingedly secured to the peripheral wall,said plate being positioned so that said loop extends through the plateslot when the plate is swung towards the peripheral wall, and pin meansengageable with the portion of the loop extending through the slots inthe bottom portion and the plate releasably to prevent the bottomsection and the trigger plate from moving away from the peripheral wall,and when the plate is swung away from the peripheral wall afterwithdrawal of the pin means said portion of the bottom section beingmoved off the loop to free the bottom section so that said bottomsection straightens out under the load and permits instant discharge ofthe particulate material during suspension of the bag.

3. A container for transporting heavy particulate material as claimed inclaim 2 including a flap secured to and forming part of said one plainpanel and extending upwardly along the outer surface of the peripheralwall, said slot of said one planed panel being formed in said flap.

4. A transporting container as claimed in claim 2 including flexiblereinforcing strips connected to and extending the length of saidperipheral wall and extending into said bottom section.

5. A transporting container as claimed in claim 2 including a tube-likecover section connected to an upper end of the bag wall and foldableinwardly to close the main holding section of the bag.

6. A transporting container as claimed in claim 4 including fasteningmeans for releasably retaining said cover section in the inwardly foldedposition.

7. A transporting container as claimed in claim 2 including a flexiblecover connected to an upper end of the bag wall, and a flexible sleevesecured to said cover and opening into the holding section.

8. A transporting container as claimed in claim 3 including loopsconnected to upper ends of the reinforcing strips by means of which saidbag can be lifted.

1. A container for transporting particulate material comprising aflexible tubular bag of substantially rectangular cross section andhaving a peripheral wall forming a main holding section, a tube-likebottom section of substantially rectangular cross section and alignedwith and connected to a lower end of the bag wall, said peripheral walland said bottom section having opposed side panels that fold inwardlywhen the bag is collapsed and having opposed plain other panels, saidside panels of the bottom section when the bag is collapsed beingfoldable inwardly relative to the adjacent end of the holding section,said plain panels of the bottom section being foldable inwardly oversaid infolded side panels and said end of the holding section to closethe end of the holding section and one of said plain panels extendingupwardly along the outer surface of the peripheral wall, and releasablesecuring means coacting between the bottom section and the adjacentperipheral wall of the holding section releasably to secure said bottomsection and said wall together, said securing means comprising a triggerplate having a slot therein and hingedly secured to a plain panel of theperipheral wall, a loop secured to said wall and positioned to extendthrough the plate slot when said plate is swung towards the peripheralwall, a slot formed in said upwardly extending plAin panel andpositioned to fit over the loop when the bottom section is folded intothe closing position with said upwardly extending plain panel overlyingthe trigger plate, and pin means engageable with the portion of the loopextending through the plate slot and the plain panel slot releasably toprevent the trigger plate and the upwardly extending plain panel frombeing swung away from the peripheral wall, and when the plate is swungaway from the peripheral wall after withdrawal of the pin means saidupwardly extending plain panel is moved off the loop to free the bottomsection, whereby when there is particulate material in the holdingsection of the bag, the weight of said material pressing against thefolded-over bottom section helps to seal the lower end of the bag andyet when said upwardly extending plain panel is moved off the loop thebottom section straightens out and the particulate wall is instantlydischarged when the bag is supported near the top thereof.
 2. Acontainer for transporting heavy particulate material, comprising atube-like bag having a peripheral wall forming a main holding section, atube-like bottom section aligned with and connected to a lower end ofthe bag wall, said bottom section being foldable over and across theadjacent end of the holding section and upwardly along the outer surfaceof the peripheral wall to close the end of the holding section, saidfolded-over portion of the bottom section supporting the load of theheavy particulate material in the bag when the bag is suspended from thetop thereof and the load pressing against said folded-over portionhelping to seal the lower end of the bag, securing means in the form ofinterconnectable and releasable securing members on the bottom sectionand the adjacent peripheral wall of the holding section respectively,said securing means comprising a slot formed in a portion of the bottomsection which extends over the outer surface of the peripheral wall ofthe bag when the bottom section is folded over into the closingposition, a loop secured to the peripheral wall and positioned to extendthrough said slot when the bottom section is folded over, a triggerplate having a slot therein and hingedly secured to the peripheral wall,said plate being positioned so that said loop extends through the plateslot when the plate is swung towards the peripheral wall, and pin meansengageable with the portion of the loop extending through the slots inthe bottom portion and the plate releasably to prevent the bottomsection and the trigger plate from moving away from the peripheral wall,and when the plate is swung away from the peripheral wall afterwithdrawal of the pin means said portion of the bottom section beingmoved off the loop to free the bottom section so that said bottomsection straightens out under the load and permits instant discharge ofthe particulate material during suspension of the bag.
 3. A containerfor transporting heavy particulate material as claimed in claim 2including a flap secured to and forming part of said one plain panel andextending upwardly along the outer surface of the peripheral wall, saidslot of said one planed panel being formed in said flap.
 4. Atransporting container as claimed in claim 2 including flexiblereinforcing strips connected to and extending the length of saidperipheral wall and extending into said bottom section.
 5. Atransporting container as claimed in claim 2 including a tube-like coversection connected to an upper end of the bag wall and foldable inwardlyto close the main holding section of the bag.
 6. A transportingcontainer as claimed in claim 4 including fastening means for releasablyretaining said cover section in the inwardly folded position.
 7. Atransporting container as claimed in claim 2 including a flexible coverconnected to an upper end of the bag wall, and a flexible sleeve securedto said cover and opening into the holding section.
 8. A transportingcontainer as claimed in claim 3 including loops connected to upper endsof the reinforcing strips by means of which said bag can be lifted.